Sunday, 28 April 2013

Baileys and chocolate cheesecake - a birthday celebration

It never ceases to amaze me that the CCD (Caked Crusader’s
Da) didn’t like cheesecake for the first 70 or so years of his life. Now, he likes it so much that he requested it
for his birthday cake this year. Proof –
if needed - that our taste buds never stop changing no matter what age we
reach. And further proof that we should
continue to revisit foods we don’t like...although I’m still giving mushrooms a
wide berth. Fungus? No thanks.

This cheesecake takes no time at all to prepare but really
is something rather special.The
addition of Baileys (even a small amount like this) gives a velvety taste and
texture to the cheesecake – the harsh alcohol flavour isn’t there, but the
creamy richness is.The flaked chocolate
provides extra bursts of flavour.All in
all, a hit!

I pondered how to decorate the cheesecake to give it more of
a ‘birthday party feel’ and decided on covering the top with maltesers. I’m not sure if that conjures up a ‘birthday
party feel’ or not to a wider audience...we’re not really party people...more
sit down and eat lots people. So it was
a success on that basis!

I am going to be (potentially) controversial here, but I do
think the best cheesecake is an unbaked one.
Don’t get me wrong, there is love in my heart for all cheesecake, but I
like the texture of the unbaked ones better and they are so quick to make; you
can go from needing a cheesecake to having a cheesecake in about 20 minutes (if you're not fussy about chilling it).

The CCB (Caked Crusader’s Brother) is a connoisseur of
cheesecake i.e. he eats a lot of it, and declared this the best one I’ve
made. I suspect it’s because it combines
two of his favourite things: Baileys and cheesecake. The malteser topping probably didn’t hurt its
chances either!

Place a 20cm food ring (or the ring part of a 20cm cake tin –
springform would be easiest to release) on a plate. Line the ring with baking paper – this aids
release later on.

Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz until you
have crumbs. You could instead place the
biscuits in a bag and beat with a rolling pin.

Add the butter and blitz again until you have clumpy wet
sand. If you are making the base without
a processor, melt the butter and stir into the crumbs. NB. There is no need to melt the butter with
the processor method.

Press the buttery crumbs into the base of the food ring and
level out.

Refrigerate while you make the topping.

Beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth and glossy.

Add the icing sugar and Baileys and beat again.

Add the chocolate and beat again.

Pour in the cream and beat until the mixture starts to
thicken up. At first it will seem very
wet but – have faith – the cream will start to thicken and you will get a silky
cheesecake. It will still be unset at
this stage.

Spoon over the biscuit base and level the surface.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or – ideally – overnight.

On the day of serving cover the top with maltesers. If you put the maltesers on when the
cheesecake is still in the fridge they risk getting wet. As it’s a softish texture, serve it from the
fridge.

I prefer unbaked cheesecake as well. This must be nice even I'm no fan of Bailey's. There's not too much of it. I need to make this cake although we can't get Cadbury's Flakes (which I like) here in Finland.

FUNGUS IS EVIL! ahem, and, cheesecake is good - fact. We are also eat lots party less people. I have to say I do prefer unbaked, mainly because I can then eat it faster as you say lol. Lovely cheesecake :)

The whole baked cheesecake vs non-baked cheesecake has been something that keeps me up at night! (not really) but it is something I have thought about and I have decided I like both and that one isn't necessarily better then the other. Like you said above it will all have to do with the amount of time you have!

I take a while to get to my point ;0)

Oh and I still can't eat raw onions even though my mom told me I would like them when I got older.

Ooh my, I think that definitely constitutes a party type of cake. Love the look of the whole thing. The flaked chocolate in the cheese mixture makes it particularly interesting and I am unable to resist maltesers. I'm sure the twins enjoyed it and a belated Happy Birthday to them.

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About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

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WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

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About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.